Chess Horizons

The Man Behind Forcing Chess Moves

EL: Did you idolize Fischer during your youth?
Edwin Lam Choong Wai CH: Not really! His style was rather sharp for my taste and I
preferred the smoothness of Smyslov and Bronstein’s creativ-
ity. Only recently have I fully come to appreciate Fischer’s
FM Charles Hertan is the author of the recently published
incredible genius and studied his games more closely.
Forcing Chess Move. This is a man of many talents, and quite
rightly so, there is much more to him than just being a chess EL: What was your highest ELO rating and when did you
author. Professionally, he is a numismatist (coin dealer) be- achieve it?
sides being a practicing psychotherapist. He is also a passion- CH: My highest ELO rating was 2410, which I achieved in
ate amateur color landscape photographer, which is not sur- 1994 after scoring 4-0 against strong masters in a tournament
prising, considering that he lives in the beautiful Pioneer Val- at Northeastern University in Boston. Shortly afterwards, my
ley of Western Massachusetts. USCF rating peaked at 2515.
He picked up the EL: When did you
game of chess at the age achieve the FIDE
of twelve, under the in- Master title?
fluence of his best CH: I received the FM
friend – and, very tal- title in 1984, after mak-
ented junior player – ing my second IM norm
Steve Feinberg. With a at the CCA Winter In-
career high ELO rating ternational in New
of 2410, he became a York. My first IM norm
FIDE Master in 1984 came in March 1981,
and twice came close to when I won the CCA
becoming an Interna- March International in
tional Master thereafter. New York.
His competitive career
also had one highlight EL: In Forcing Chess
that many of us could Moves you refer read-
only dream of – the ers to the classic, Art
privilege of playing a of Checkmate, by
two-game match against Renaud and Kahn.
the legendary Sammy Was that your first-
Reshevsky in 1983. ever chess book?
CH: The first book I re-
Edwin Lam: You are member owning was
now based in Massa- Author Charles Hertan during a Boylston Chess Club lecture one on opening traps by
chusetts, but you were I.A. Horowitz. My se-
previously from New Jersey. Did you grow up in NJ? rious chess friends soon corrected my ways, and got me read-
Charles Hertan: Actually, I currently live in Northampton, ing My System by Nimzovitch and Chess Informant. I discov-
Massachusetts, a few hours drive from Boston. I did grow up ered the Art of the Checkmate much later, when I was a teacher
in New Jersey, which gave me the chance to develop my skills trying to help my students with their tactical skills.
in the vibrant New York chess scene. I moved from Boston to
Northampton in 1996. EL: You had competed against the legendary Samuel
Reshevsky during the New Paltz Quad back in 1983. What
EL: Boston’s known primarily for its famous Tea Party and was he like, as a 71-year-old back then?
as the home to the Gillette Razors. What is the chess scene CH: There is an interesting story behind my two-game match
like there? with Reshevsky in 1983. After dominating U.S. chess for many
CH: Compared with New York’s many top players, the Boston years before Fischer, Reshevsky rarely appeared in American
chess scene is rather sleepy. However, it has always had a few tournaments by the 1970s. But in ‘83, he decided to make one
stars, such as Jack Peters, Patrick Wolff, Ilya Gurevich, and more run toward qualifying for the Interzonal. There was one
Alexander Ivanov. There are few large tournaments in Massa- problem; Reshevsky needed 15 or 20 rating points to qualify
chusetts, but the competition is fairly strong. Northampton is for the U.S. championship.
another story; though great in other arts, it has no serious chess So my friend Eric Horsboll arranged a couple of two game
culture. matches for Sammy, against my best friend at the time, the

October - December 2008 19

choct08.pmd 19 9/10/2008, 3:38 PM

 Chess
strong master Robby Sulman, and myself. After getting crushed
in game one, I achieved an utterly drawn, lifeless R+P ending
in the second game, but the old wizard outfoxed me. He won
all four games, and went on to just miss qualifying for the
third spot in the Interzonal by tying for third in the U.S. cham-
pionship.
Reshevsky was a rather strange fellow, very quiet and of
the old school. He was not one to mix with other players. But
over the board, he was intense and tough as a bulldog.
EL: Did you still play competitively after the turn of the cen-
tury?
CH: I was very active until the late 1990s, winning many re-
gional tournaments such as the New England Open (twice)
and the Eastern U.S. Masters Championship (twice). Over the
years, I played many of the top American players, including
Dzindzichashvili, Benko, Shamkovich, Alburt, Rohde,
Fedorowicz, Benjamin, De Firmian, Kudrin and many others,
and managed an occasional win or draw against most of them.
Internationally, I played some interesting games against
Gheorghiu, Glek, Razuvaev, Lerner, and Tkachiev, to name a
few. After moving to rural Northampton, I became too busy
with other pursuits and faded out of tournament play in 2001.
I began focusing all my chess energy on writing the book and
teaching.
EL: What made you decide to begin teaching chess?
CH: I always enjoyed the process of teaching, developing the
skill to break down chess ideas so that average players could
grasp them. I began teaching at age 16, and have worked with
students ranging from age 5 to 90! I taught quite a bit at the
scholastic level, mostly with children 8-14.
EL: Have you any thoughts of expanding your chess teach-
ings, via, say, a Forcing Chess Moves chess school?
CH: No! Between my careers as a numismatist and writer, and
passions as an amateur photographer, hiker and historian, I
have no time for any new major projects!
EL: As an author, I understand that you penned an article
in New In Chess magazine. Have you contributed to other
magazines as well?
CH: Yes, on occasion. Last year I had an article in Chess Life
about the mysterious disappearance in 1978 of the promising
American junior player Peter Winston. I also wrote a piece for
Chess Life outlining the key ideas of Forcing Chess Moves.
EL: Am I correct to say that Forcing Chess Moves is your
first chess book?
CH: You are correct. Forcing Chess Moves grew out of my
years of teaching, when I began noticing that my students were
missing winning forcing moves in nearly every game. I real-
ized that the most important skill that my students needed help
with was learning a more correct way to analyze positions. I
began thinking a lot about how to help them hone in on the
most critical forcing options, and then develop the analytical
skills to correctly evaluate them.
20 www.masschess.org
choct08.pmd 20
Horizons
EL: In the introduction, GM Joel Benjamin notes that you
spent fourteen years collecting, selecting and codifying 650
tactical positions for the book. Can you share with us how
you went about such tasks at a time when chess databases
were still in there infancy?
CH: It wasn’t easy! At first I started putting together my own
database of all the nice master combinations I could find. I
drew them from magazines, games I witnessed, tactics and
opening books, anywhere; but my favorite source became col-
lections of master games.
As I researched, I began to think about a new way of clas-
sifying positions. Instead of the traditional categories of tacti-
cal motifs (pin, fork, etc.), my categories were based on differ-
ent types of forcing moves that are especially difficult for play-
ers to find. Once I divided my database into different catego-
ries in this way, my research became more focused on finding
examples from categories that were harder to locate, such as
defensive forcing moves and zwishchenzugs.
After about eleven years, I thought I had a nice book of
about 150 pages, and I showed it to Jeremy Silman. He loved
the positions, but he thought the book was too short and sparse
on annotations. I decided he was right, and began a massive
new round of research. Finding the right examples was still an
enormous amount of work, but about this time, I quit my regu-
lar job as a psychotherapist and devoted much more time to
finishing the book. I had come too far to turn back.
Soon I learned how to navigate my way through databases
with millions of games to increase the odds of finding the kind
of positions I needed. I promise the reader that you didn’t ask
me to say this, but ChessBase was an indispensable tool to-
ward elevating the level of the material. After three more years
of research and writing, I went back to Mr. Silman, but by this
time he informed me that he was only producing books about
Hollywood! So I turned to New In Chess, and the rest is his-
tory.
EL: Would you recommend this book for self-study by jun-
ior chess players with at least a 1600 ELO rating?
CH: Your 1600 cut-off suggestion has some merit, but I think
that a really motivated, lower rated player could still get a lot
out of the book. Junior players’ ability to learn from new mate-
rial often exceeds their ability to demonstrate it over the board,
but experience quickly fixes that.
EL: What about chess coaches? Should they start their stu-
dents with materials from Chapter 10 first, before coming
back to the materials in Chapters 2 and 3?
CH: I would definitely recommend reading Chapters 1 and 2
first, since by giving the reader a strong grounding in recur-
ring “stock” master combinations, they are designed to pave
the way for greater understanding of the subsequent chapters.
EL: In the book, you selected seventeen examples from
Fischer’s games, twelve from Short, and eleven each from
Van Wely and Tal. Does this mean that the style of these players
Continued on page 44
9/10/2008, 3:38 PM
 Chess Horizons

entry for chess masters, but Entry Fee de- on the number of entries. Games should be- Vigorito continued
ducted from prizes. Prize Fund: $500 b/50 gin between 6:30 and 7:00pm in the Commu-
Multiple Sections if entries permit Prize Info: nity room in the back of the Burger King. Bring
U1200 Trophy is an additional prize of U1500 your set and clock please! Questions:
It was not completely by accident that
Section. Byes: You play 4 rounds unless you Byron666@aol.com or 413-665-6900. I had this resource, as I had seen the pos-
get a 1/2 point bye for Round 1. Payable to: Sat Jan 10 100th Rhode Island Pawn Eater: sibility a couple of moves before. I just
R.I. Chess Association P.O. Box 15444 Riv- 4SS, G/60 Rhode Island College - Providence, didn’t think I would “need” it.
erside, RI 02915 Questions: Eric Berkey (401) RI Entries after 9:30 AM will receive 1/2-point
334-1486 EMail: besenji57@aol.com Direc- bye or be paired if w/other late arrivals. Ad-
39...hxg5 40.e6+ Ke7 41.exd7
tions: Rhode Island College Donovan Cafete- vanced entries must be received prior to Tour- Time control. Now I’ll be here all
ria (Behind Mann Hall), 600 Mt. Pleasant Av- nament. Must be at site to confirm by 9:30AM. night. Sorry darling.
enue, Providence, RI 02908. From North, take Please bring chess set/board & clock. Food 41…gxf4+ 42.Kf2 fxe3+
Exit 21 off I-95, turn right onto Atwells Ave. available all day in cafeteria. Sections Prizes
From South, take Exit 21 Broadway, at 2nd Open $175-$100 U1900 $100-$50 U1500
42...Kxd7 is better. Now my king
set of light, turn left onto Atwells Ave. Go 1.4 $50-$25 (U1200 Trophy) EF All: Only $20 by comes up and I can dream of mating
miles (Atwells), to the top of a long hill take a mail/email, $25 at site. Reg All: 9:00AM to threats.
right at onto Mt. Pleasant Ave, go straight for 9:30AM Rounds: 1st: 9:30 EF Special: free 43.Kxe3 Kxd7 44.Kd4 f4 45.Kxd5
1.2 miles (through one light) and continue until entry for chess masters, but Entry Fee de-
you see RI College entrance on left. Once you ducted from prizes Prize Fund: $500 b/50
Rg5+ 46.Ke4 Rh5 47.Rxa7 Kc6
have taken a left into the main entrance, fol- Multiple Sections if entries permit Prize Info: 48.Ra6+ Kb7 49.Ra2
low on the main road through campus until U1200 Trophy is an additional prize of U1500 I actually had a chance here by
you see Mann Hall, take a right into the stu- Section. Byes: You play 4 rounds unless you switching to the right with 49.Rg6! Rxh2
dent union/cafeteria parking lot. USCF mem- get a 1/2 point bye for Round 1. Payable to:
bership required. R.I. Chess Association P.O. Box 15444 Riv-
50.c6+ Ka6 51.Bd4 and Black’s king is
Sat Dec 20 Harry Lyman Memorial: 4SS; G/ erside, RI 02915 Questions: Eric Berkey (401) very uncomfortable. But alas, the drastic
60 Boylston Chess Club - Somerville, MA 334-1486 EMail: besenji57@aol.com Direc- change in the position had me off bal-
Sections Prizes Open 1st $125 2nd $75 Un- tions: Rhode Island College Donovan Cafete- ance.
der 1800 1st $100 2nd $50 Under 1500 $50 ria (Behind Mann Hall), 600 Mt. Pleasant Av-
EF All: $25, $20 to BCC members. Reg All: enue, Providence, RI 02908. From North, take
49...f3 50.Rf2 Rh3 51.Kf5 Rxh2
9:00 to 9:50 Rounds: 10:00, 12:30, 2:50, 5:00 Exit 21 off I-95, turn right onto Atwells Ave. Black could also draw by 51...Bxh2
Prize Fund: $400b/30 Questions: (617) 629- From South, take Exit 21 Broadway, at 2nd 52.Kg4 Rg3+ 53.Kh4 Rg2 54.Rxf3 Bc7.
3933 EMail: boylstonchess@aol.com No set of light, turn left onto Atwells Ave. Go 1.4 52.Rxf3 Rh4 53.Ke6 Rh6+ 54.Kd5
smoking, no computers, wheelchair acces- miles (Atwells), to the top of a long hill take a
sible. Bring chess clocks. Directions:240B Elm right at onto Mt. Pleasant Ave, go straight for
Rh5+ 55.Ke4 Rh4+ 56.Kd3 Rc4 57.Rf7
Street, Suite B9, Somerville, MA 02144 1.2 miles (through one light) and continue until Kc6
Sat Dec 27 Pioneer Valley Monthly Tourna- you see RI College entrance on left. Once you cuuuuuuuuC
ment: 3 SS, G30 The Pioneer Valley Chess
Club holds a monthly tournament on the last
have taken a left into the main entrance, fol-
low on the main road through campus until
{wDwDwDwD}
Saturday of each month. The tournament is you see Mann Hall, take a right into the stu- {DwgwDRDw}
unrated and open to everyone. The entry fee dent union/cafeteria parking lot. USCF mem-
is $5 and cash prizes will be awarded, based bership required.
{wDkDwDwD}
{Dp)wDwDw}
Lam continued {w)rDwDwD}
produces far more forcing moves than, say, Anand, Kasparov or Topalov?
{DwGKDwDw}
CH: Not necessarily. Even “positional” greats like Karpov, Petrosian and Capablanca {wDwDwDwD}
produced many beautiful forcing moves. The examples I ended up with were the {DwDwDwDw}
best I could find to illustrate the specific categories of forcing moves I devised. I vllllllllV
also left out many “classic” combinations in the interest of having as many “fresh” White cannot make any progress, so
positions as possible; for example, many of Alekhine’s wonderful tactics were skipped I decided to look for tricks.
over on this basis. 58.Bd4 Rxb4 59.Ke4 Bd8!
My idea was 59...Rb1 60.Rf6+ Kb7
EL: Moving on to the future, can you give us a hint on your next book project? 61.Kd5, when White can still dream.
CH: At the risk of giving away secrets, it might have something to do with 60.Ra7 Ra4 61.Rxa4 bxa4 ½–½
zwischenzugs. True zwischenzugs, in which a capture is met by a stronger forcing
move, are rare jewels of the chessboard. If anyone has seen or played any nice Maybe someday I will learn….
zwischenzugs, please email them to me!
Alex’s resilience continued and he
EL: Should we be on the lookout for a chess tactics DVD from you in the near followed this game with wins against
future? Curdo and Ivanov to tie for first!
CH: No plans for one yet. A German edition of Forcing Chess Moves is possible.
Visit MassChess.org for crosstables,
EL: And, lastly, how can the readers contact you with feedback? event information, a downloadable
CH: Readers are welcome to contact me via email, cehertan@rcn.com. archive of New England master games,
and more.

44 www.masschess.org

choct08.pmd 44 9/10/2008, 3:38 PM